Abstract

The degree of corroboration of a scientific hypothesis is an issue that has been repeatedly discussed in modern theory of sciences . In a preceding paper it was shown that the formulae advanced by Popper to calculate the degree of corroboration C are not very satisfactory because the probability values required in the computation of C are not available as a rule. Another equation to measure the degree of corroboration B was proposed ), whereby only the number n of unsuccessful efforts to falsify a scientific hypothesis by means of adequate experiments or observations is needed to be known. Shortly after the publication of these ideas I discovered that Nicolaus Cusanus in his book "De docta ignorantia" had proposed a model of scientific "verisimilitude" which leads to a quite similar relationship between B and the number n of independent proofs or observations. The "polygonal" model of verisimilitude ) mentioned by Cusanus is presumably the first quantitative estimate proposed for this problem in philosophical literature